Stacking mechanism



T. LUND.

STACKING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16, 191B.

Patented Jan. 24, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

//v l/E/V 70R.

Fig.

T. LUND.

STACKING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED FEB. I6. 1918.

Patented Jan. 24, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

T. LUND.

STACKING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16,1918.

1,404,210, Patented Jan. 24, 1-922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. v

THOMAS LUND, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHIN- ERY CORPORATION, OF'PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

STACKING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J an. 24, 1922.

Application filed February 16, 1918. Serial No. 217,540.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, .THOMAS LUN1), a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Stacking Mechanism, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to mechanisms for stacking blanks to facilitate subsequent handling of the blanks and is herein illustrated with reference to stacking box toe blanks after they have been operated upon by a skiving machine.

In the manufacture of boots and shoes it is customary to skive the edges of a box toe blank preparatory to incorporating it in a boot or shoe; andfor this purposethe blanks are commonly run through a suitable skiving machine of which there are various types. Commonly the skived blanks drop from the machine into a receptacle and are stacked by hand before being transferred to the operator by whom theyare incorporated in a shoe.

The general object of the present invention is to provide improved means for stacking these and similar blanks.

According to one-feature of the invention there is provided a holder or magazine for the blanks, and means for gripping the blanks and stacking. them in parallelrelation therein. Conveniently the gripping means comprises a pair of'jaws which seize the blanks firmly one by one afterthey have passed through the skiving or other machine and stack them in the holder, this firm gripping of the blanks greatly facilitating the accuracy with which they are placed in position.

Another feature of the invention comprises means for transferring the blanks from the machine to the stacking means. Conveniently the blanks are received one, by one upon an inclined slide, a presser descends upon the blank to hold it in place, and the slide and presser are then moved in unison to place a portion of the blank between the jaws of the stacking means, whereupon the presser rises to permit the jaws to seize the blank and stack it. This transferring means ensures proper positioning of the blanks between the gripper jaws and is particularly useful when thin, light blanks upon which gravity acts feebly are being handled.

Another feature of the invention comprises a holder or magazine for the stack in the form of two parallel horizontal bars upon which the blanks are suspended. This feature is particularly suitable for blanks such as boX toes and counters which have one portion wider than another and readily lend themselves to a two-point suspension.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,--

Fig. 1 is a side view, principally in elevation, of a machine in which the present invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a plan of certain parts of the machine viewed in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, certain parts having been broken away;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the holder in which the blanks are stacked;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section through a portion of the machine showing the parts of the stacking mechanism in one position, and

- Fig. 5 is a similar section showing the parts in another position which is substantially the same as is shown in Fig. 1.

The machine chosen for illustration is a machine for skiving and stacking box toe blanks. The blanks, the outline of one of which is shown in dotted lines at 100 in Fig. 3, are fed one by one in any suitable manner between a feed roll 7 and a matrix roll 9, the feed mechanism being timed so that each blank will be forced into the matrix. The rotating rolls then advance the blank to a skiving knife 11 which cuts off the portion of the blank projecting from thematrix, the waste skiving passing up over the knife and the skived blank passing beneath it. The mechanism thus briefly outlined is old and well-knownand will not be described further. 7

One purpose of the present invention is to take the blanks one by one and form them into a stack so that they may readily be handled. In the illustrative mechanism each blank falls upon an inclined slide 13; and a presser 15 having teeth 16 is caused to hold the blank against the slide, as shown in Fig. 4,.whi1e the slide and presser are moved downwardly in unison. The presser is then caused to release the blank whichthereupon drops between the open jaws 17, 19 of a carrier. A blank is shown in this position in Fig. 5 being held suspended bycontact of its edge with the upper edges of parallel bars 21 which constitute a holder or magazine for the stack of blanks (see Fig. 3).- The inner ends of these bars 21 extend past thes'lide13 so that each blank, as it emerges from the skiving mechanism, is guided by.

the slide to a position of suspension upon the upper edges of the bars as shown in'Fig. 5. The jaws of the'carrierare closed upon'the blank which is thus sustained by the blank holder, then swung rearwardly between the bars 21 thus pushing the blank rearwardly along the bars, and then opened as shown in Fig. t'and moved downwardly. After this the carrier is returned to'the positionshown in Fig. 5 in time to receive the next blank delivered to suspended position on the bars 21. j

The mechanism for causing these various movements to take place will now be described. The slide 13 isdovetailed on a stationary inclined support 23 and has formed upon it two perforated e'ars'25 to receive alined pins 27 on which the presser 15 is pivoted. This presser has a generally U-shaped form, as shown in Fig. 2, the arms being swiveled on the pivot-s 27. Each arm has at its lower end a right-angled projection 115 (Figsj 4 and 5) so that in effect the arms are bell-crank levers; and to the extremities of these bell-crank levers'are pivoted at 28 the upper ends of connecting'rods 29the lower ends of'which 'are provided with eyes or straps to receive two crank pins 31 on'the crank shaft 33. The purpose of this construction is to raise the presser 15 if it' is in lowered position or to lower it if it is in raised position before upward or downward movement respectively is imparted to the slide 13. In order to ensure that the presser 15 shall in each instance be swungabout the axis of the pivots 27 before movement of the slide 13 takes place, a friction plug 35 (see Fig; 2) mounted in a bore in'a' boss '37 formed on the slide 13 is held against a guide on the slide 13 by a screw 39 which may be turned to vary the pressure of the plug on theguide and thereby the forcenecessary to move the slide. This boss, and another like it on the opposite side of the slide, also serves a further'function; After the presser 15 has been brought down upon the blank, it is obvious that further downward pull of the connecting rods 29 will pull the'presser and the slide downwardly, since the bell-crank levers can move no further in a clockwise direction about their pivots 27. hen, how

7 ever, the connecting rods 29 move upwardly,

a different condition exists. The further function of the bosses 37 is to arrest the angular movement of the bell-crank levers in a counter-clockwise direction as soon as the presser has been raised sufficiently, and thereafter by contact of the projections on tails..115 with the bosses 37 to impart upward movement to the'slide 13. Y The. support 23 and the slide 13 are cut away, as shown in Fig. 2-,-'to provide a passageway through slide by gravity down into place between the jaws 17,19. I

'T he crankshaft 33 has three crank pins (see Fig. 2) arranged in alinementand car'- ried by crank arms. Ofthese crank pins two serve to'actuate the. connecting rods 29, while'the third actuates the carrier, aswill now appear. This carrier, which comprises the jaws 17 and19,ismoved bodilv by the middle one of thethree crank pins and is opened'b'y crank arms in theform of eccentric disks 41 (see Figs.- 4: and 5) which engage the jaw 17 at the proper timeand move it in opposition to the force of the spring 43, these eccentric disksserving as crank arms for the middle'crank pin 31. The jaw 19 hasa'bearing on the middle crank pin 31 and is pivoted'at45 to one end of a link 47 the other end of which ispivoted at 49 (Fig. 1) 'to the frame of the machine. lVith this construction the revolution of the middle crank pin 31, on'which'the aw 19 is pivoted, about the axis of'the' crank shaft 33 imparts to the carrier the bodily motion which carries thejaws from "13116 position. shown in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 4 and back again to the Fig, 5 position. The 17 "is also pivoted at 4:5 R11Cl is moved angularly. about this pivotto open the .jaws'at the proper times by the crank arms 41. These crank arms, as has beenexplained, are in the form of'disk s mounted eccentrically on the crank shaft 33 'and have "flattened faces flfil which permit the spring 13 to close the jaw upon the blank at the proper time, the jaw" 17 being comparatively wide; as shown in Fig. 2, so asto contact with the. peripheries of the two disks 41..

'In order to maintain the blanks of the stack in upright position as they are added one by one to' the stack, twov catches or re lock them in any desired ;position. The bars 21 are pivoted onstationary rods 71 and may be adjusted angularly about said rods by a right-a'nd-left screw 73 the head75 of which isrotatable in'a portion of 'thefra'me of themachin'e g'butheld from longitudinal movementwit'h respect thereto .as'shown in Fig.3. The purpose ofthisadjustment is to causethe bars to contact with similar point-s 'on'rthe edges of blanks ofdifierent sizes. For exa'ni'plefif blanksof a given size: have been operated upon and the next run of blanks is smaller, the bars 21 will be adjusted toward each other into a posi tion nearer the vertical.

By referring to FigsA and 5it will be seen that the. carrier, comprising the jaws 17 and 19," not only performs the function of Carrying each blank from the position shown in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 4, but pilesjthe blanks-in stacked relation in the holder." Referring to Fig. 4, the. jaws have just delivered a blank past the retainersbl and at the same time pushed the preceding blank and the whole stack along in the holder. Upon the co npletion of the next cycle ofoperation of the carrier, the jaw 17; ,will'have pushed theseparated blank shown ii Fig. 4 up" agaiiistltheend ofthe stack and at thesame timepushed the whole stack along in theholder; A newiblank will then be in the place of, the separated one which is shown.

At 76 is shown'a detachable auxiliary holder which is or maybe substantially like the one shown in pat ent to Pope No. 1,088,- 720 and will not be described in detail. From time to time, as it becomes filled, this auxiliary holder may be' disconnected from the main-holder and carried, with its contents, to any desired locality.

Although the invention has been described as embodied in a particular machine adapted to handle box toe blanks, it should be understood that the particular blank, which is handled. is immaterial and that the invention is not limited in the scope of its application to the particular machine which has been shownand described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with a machine for acting upon blanks, of a holder for the blanks, said holder comprising a pair of bars upon the upper edges of which the blanks are received and suspended one by one as they are delivered from the operating instrumentalities of the machine, and means for engaging the blanks successively while so suspended and moving them along the bars to form a stack.

2. The combination with a machine for acting upon blanks, of a holder comprising parallel bars adapted to sustain the blanks on their upper edges by contact with two points only on the edges of the blanks, said bars being located to thus receive the blanks as they are delivered from the operating instrumentalities of the machine, and means operating betweenthe bars for pushing the suspended blanks along the supporting bars and thereby forming a stack.

3. The combination with a machine for acting upon blanks, of an inclined member upon which, the blanks are delivered from the operating instrumentalities of the machine, a.holder comprising a pair of horizontal parallel bars extending past said member, upon the upper edges of which the blanks are received and suspended one by one from the inclined member, and means for engaging the'blanks successively while so suspended and moving them along the barsto form a stack.

e 4. The combination with a 'machine for acting upon blanks, of a holder comprising bars locatedtoreceive the blanks from the machineand adapted to sustain the blanks by contact with two substantially opposite points only on the edges thereof, means for pushing the blanks along the bars to form a stack, and means for adjusting the bars so as to cause them to engage substantially similar points on the edges of blanks of a difterentsize.

,5. A holder for a stack of-blanks comprising a plurality of bars by which the blanks are suspended by contact I of the bars with a plurality of separated points on the edge of each blank, and means for simultaneously adjusting the bars to cause them to engage substantially similar points on blanks of a different size.

6. The combination with a machine for acting upon blanks, of a holder for the blanks, a carrier for stacking the blanks in the holder, and means for receiving the blanks from the machine and delivering them to the carrier, said means comprising a plate, a presser pivoted on the plate, means for moving the presser toward and from the plate to hold and to release the blank, and means for moving the plate and presser in unison from receiving to delivering position.

7. The combination with a machine for acting upon blanks, of a holder for the blanks, an inclined support, a slide mounted on the support and arranged to receive the blanks one by one from the machine, a presser for holding a blank on the slide, means for moving the presser into contact with the blank, for moving the presser and slide in unison, and for thereafter moving the presser to release the blank, a carrier arranged to receive the released blank, and means for causing the carrier to stack the blank in the holder.

8. The combination with a machine for acting uponblanks, of E21- holder for'the blanks, a downwardly inclined member to ivhich; the blanks are delivered by the machine, and means including a pair of jaws for transferring the blanks from the member tothe holder.

9. The combination with a machine for acting upon'blanks, of a holder for the blanks, an inclinedmember, having an opening therein,facarrier, and means for mov 1ng thecarrler back and forth through the suspension consisting of parallel bars spaced apart a distance' less than the length of said cenvex edge'on which said blanks rest with their convex edges in contact therewith.

12. A holder for sustaining ajstack of blanks by their edges comprising 'a 'pair of parallel horizontal rods a fi'xed distance apart, a pair of vertically arranged bar'sv one pivoted oneach rod, the free edges of Which act as" the "blank sustaining means, andmeans for varying the distance between said bar's."

' '13. A machine for skiving and stacking light weight blanks having, in combination, skiving-mechanism, a blank holder, an inthe" other blanks therein." v In testimony whereof I have signedmy having, in combination, a horizontally ar-' ranged skivingf knife, means for feedinga blank-horizontally to said .knife and then deflecting- ,it 'into a vvertical position, and

means for receiving the blank and stacking itwliileniairitaihing its,.vertical position.

(15. A blankski'v'ingland stacking machine having, in combination, ineans for feeding blanks in a horizontal plane tosaid skiving mechanism, means for turning the ski'ved blanks intoa ,verticalplane, a holder for sustainingthe blanks byftheir edges, and

means for stacking the'blanks on said holder. l Q

V 16. A, blankskiVinga'nd stacking machine having, in combination, skiving mechanism, a blank'holder, a downwardly inclined guide between said mechanism and holder, and rotary means for transferring the blanks from a'stackin theguideto the holder.

l 7. A; machine for operating upon blanks of sheet material, having in combination, skiving'in echanismto which blanks may be fed one by one, a magazine'in which the :sk'ijved blanks are received as they are dis-, chargediffrom said mechanism, a pivoted stacking device, and means for swinging the device aboutits pivot to operate uponfthe blanks after they have reached the magathem' into stacked relation to zinc to bring name to this specification.

v THQMAS LUN 

